Mackinnon Wins Cup with Avalanche in Exciting Finish

The final game of the Stanley Cup came down to the wire, with Colorado’s goaltender pulled, and Mackinnon scoring with only three seconds left on the clock. The Avalanche defeated the Islanders in five games, winning their first Cup in franchise history. Mackinnon’s goal came with less than 30 seconds left, after Islanders defensemen Jean-Claude Rene had tied the game with 2:25 left to play.

A look back at the previous games

MacKinnon’s journey to an Avs victory began when he played against Dallas as a 10-year-old at Colorado’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He and his family went back home to Nova Scotia, but not before MacKinnon met Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, who told him that he’d like him to play for Dallas. Years later, Colorado drafted MacKinnon No. 1 overall  and told The Hockey News he already liked the Avalanche uniforms growing up and that Steve Yzerman was his favorite player. Once Mackinnon joined Colorado, he made an impression on Nieuwendyk almost immediately by scoring a hat trick in his first game and then winning Rookie of the Month honors for October 2013.

The day before

20 year old Nathan Raymond MacKinnon showed why he is regarded as one of, if not THE most exciting players in hockey. The Avs captain played one of his best games since Colorado traded him from the Flames last season. He scored 2 goals, had a +/- rating of +5 and he got the title player of the game for his team, who won 5-4 over Pittsburgh. The Penguins entered Thursday’s game as favourites; their offense led by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist. Mackinnon did his part on offense to shut them down and they named him playoff MVP for leading Colorado to win their first cup since 1975 when their name was Quebec Nordiques.

Good luck and good game

The Calgary Flames defeated the New York Rangers 6-4 to win the 2022 Stanley Cup. There was no doubt about who the star of the game was, though. League MVP Colin Mackinnon scored two goals and added an assist for the champions, leading his team to a thrilling victory over their cross-coast rivals. It was a hard fought series that went all seven games, but it had been no contest since game one when Montreal’s Jason Robertson scored his second goal of the night just 16 seconds into overtime.

Competing to win

Mackinnon wins the cup. The Calgary Flames advance to the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs by winning a shootout against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Calgary ended up winning the series 3-2, getting the win on a game winner from their number one goaltender Jonas Hiller. It’s amazing, said Mackinnon after he was asked about his team’s dominant performance in five of the six games that they played against Vancouver, adding we’ve been really strong all year and it’s good to finally show it. Mackinnon also got credit for an assist on Brad Stuarts game-tying goal at 15:23 of the third period and had two goals during Sunday’s 4-3 Game 1 overtime victory over Vancouver.

The winners

A shocking overtime goal by captain Mackinnon sealed the win for the Atlantics, making it the first time in history that the Atlantic teams have won all 4 cups. With the win, Mackinnon joins a prestigious list of players who have won 5 cups or more including Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. I don’t think any other player has accomplished what I’ve accomplished, said Mackinnon as he held back tears following an emotional post-game interview on TVA Sports, This isn’t about me though, it’s about my teammates who made these last few years possible.

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